Coiler



' July 16, 1940. I J. F. S'PELLACY 2,207,832

, COILER I Filed Sept. 1, 195a ATTORN EY Patented July 16, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE comm - John F. Spellacy, Cleveland, Ohio Application September 1, 1938, Serial No. 227,978

Claims. (01. 242 121) This invention relates to the coiling of elongated material, and more particularly to apparatus for coiling hot metal strip.

In the art of producing strip material of con- 6 siderable length it is standard practice to wind it into coils for more expeditious handling, storing, transporting and working. As hot metal strip, due to its reduced strength, can not be wound into a coil by a pulling force without un- 10 desirable deformation, the convolutions of the coil are generally formed by guiding the moving hot strip into an arcuate path by bending rollers arranged in substantially a circle around a mandrel. The strip, coming from a hot strip mill or other apparatus, is fed.between two of the rotating bending rollers and deflected or bent by all of them to cause it to coil around the mandrel. To prevent the entering end of the strip from shooting out between the rollers instead of curving around the mandrel, nonrotating deflecting members are disposed between at least some of the'rollers. Howevenit is still possible for the strip to enter the narrow space between a deflecting member and adjacent bending roller and cause cobbling.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a strip cofler which is substantially cobble-proof and which coils strip without marking its surface.

In accordance with this'invention a plurality of spaced primary deflecting members, such as rollers, are arranged substantially in a circle for bending into a coil the strip material that is fed into the space encircled by the rollers. To aid in bending the strip, a plurality of intermediate deflecting members, such as guide shoes, are disposed between at least some of the spaced members. Cobbling or buckling of the strip during coiling, caused by the catching or arresting of 40 the leading end of the strip between the spaced members and adjacent intermediate members, is avoided by forming these elements so that their adjacent surfaces interflt with each other in.

tongue and groove fashion. That is, bending rollers may be provided with axially 'spaced peripheral grooves, and deflecting guides'with flngers or tongues which project into the grooves and thereby eliminate any space between the rollers and. guides into which the end of the strip might enter.

The strip is therefore engaged by each pri-,'

mary deflecting member at only transversely spaced points, and if the ring-like projections between the grooves, which are the only stripengaging portions or the grooved rolls, were all in line they would engage thestrip along only transversely spaced parallel paths separated by parallel unengaged areas. The efiect of this on the strip would be visible in the form of scoring, striping or marking which is very undesir- 5 able even in the case of hot rolled products as it adds a serious difficulty to subsequent satisfactory cold rolling or finishing operations. In accordance with .this invention, any such tendency to mark the strip is avoided by staggering 10 the grooves in each of the primary members relative to those in'adjacent similar members so that the strip is engaged throughout its width as it is bent by the deflecting members. Workmy strip coiling apparatus with the near side 20 frame omitted; Fig. '2 is an enlarged end view of one of the bending rollers and its cooperating deflecting shoe carried by a movable yoke;. and Fig. 3'is an enlarged sectional view on the broken line 111-411 of Fig. l. 5

Referring to Fig. l of the drawing, the apparatus as a whole is shown in only such detail as is necessary for an understanding of the invention. The major portion of the apparatus is supported between two side frames l, the near 30 one being omitted from Fig. 1 to leave the coiler exposed to view. The strip material to be coiled,- sucli as hot metal strip 2-, arrives at the left from a rolling mill or the like (not shown) and is fed by pinch rolls 3 forward against upturned 35 gate 4 which deflects the. strip downwardly between top and bottom guide plates 6 to pinch rolls 1.

The latter rolls feed the strip to the coiler which is of the well-known type shown, for example, in L. Johnson Patent No. 1,654,651. In

' axes parallel. Rollers II and l2'are journaled 45 at their ends in side frames I, but the remainingrollers are journaled in the sides of yokes l8 oscillatably mounted on pins l9 supported by the side frames. The rollers are driven by electric motors connected directly to their necks, 50 and as-shown in Fig. 3, motors 20 which'drive rollers i3 to l6 are supported by brackets 2i mounted on yokes l8 and projecting through enlarged openings 22 in the adjacent side frame so that the motors can swing with the yokes.

The yokes are pivotally connected together and to a fluid pressure cylinder 23 by links 24. The cylinder is operated at a slow speed to swing the inner ends of the yokes outwardly and thereby gradually move rollers l3, l4, I5 and it away from the mandrel as the coil increases in size. When formation of the coil is completed, the cylinder quickly retracts the rollers still farther to permit the coil to be lowered onto the mandrel from which it is then removed. The yokes and links are so formed and arranged that the rollers remain substantially in a circle as they are retracted.

To prevent the strip from escaping from the coiler between the bending rollers, non-rotatable deflecting guides or shoes 3|, 32, 33, 34, 35 and 36 are disposed in the spaces between the rollers. Shoe 3| is mounted in fixed position adjacent roller 2| which is journaled in fixed position, but shoe 32 is carried by an oscillatable yoke 31 mounted on a pin 38 carried by side frames 1 above roller 22. The rest of the shoes are carried by projecting portions of yokes l8 and are therefore retractable therewith. Shoe-carrying yoke 31 is retracted by the adjacent yoke 18 to which it is connected by link 39.

It-is a feature of this invention that the bending rollers and shoes are so related that the en'- tering or leading end of the strip can not enter or catch between them and either escape from the coiler or jam and cause the strip to cobble. Accordingly, each of the bending rollersis provided with a plurality of axially spaced peripheral grooves 4|, (Fig. 3), and each adjacent deflecting shoe is provided with a plurality of spaced projections or tongues 42 that project into the roller grooves. These interfltting tongues and grooves eliminate any unbroken space between the adjacent shoe and roller that would otherwise extend transversely of the strip,

and as each pair of rollers and shoes interflt in this manner the coiler is practically cobbleproof. As shown in Fig. 2, the ends of tongues 42 are contained entirely within grooves 4| so that the tongues themselves will not obstruct the strip.

Another feature of this invention is that strip can be coiled in the above-described cobble-proof coiler without being marked by the annular projections or ribs 43 between the roller grooves, these axially spaced ribs being the only portions of each roll that engage the hot strip. Therefore, in accordance with this invention the ribs and grooves of each bending roller are staggered relative to those of the adjacent rollers on both sides of it. This staggered arrangement, clearly shown in Fig. 3, assures the strip of being engaged throughout its width by the rollers, instead of at only transversely spaced strip-like areas as would be the case if the ribs were in line or substantially so. Consequently, if there is any working of the strip by the roller ribs, no part of the stripis worked any more than another, whereby marking is avoided. In the embodiment shown the ribs 43 are substantially the same width as the grooves ll. 'Thus the' sides of the ribs on one roller are in line with the sides of the grooves in the adjacent rollers consequently there is no overlapping of the portions of the strip engaged by two adjacent rollers, although overlapping may be provided.

After a given length of strip-has been formedinto a coil by this coiler, and while the coil is being removed, gate 4 is dropped to horizontal position and the next succeeding strip is fed by pinch rolls 3 over the gate and table rollers 43 to another coiler or metal working device. Rotation and retraction of the bending rollers can be started and stopped by a flag switch in the path of the strip, or by connecting pinch rolls 3 into an electriccircuit which is closed by the strip passing between them.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes,I have explained the principle and mode of operation of my invention, and have described and illustrated what I now consider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have it understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1; A strip coiler comprising a plurality of spaced deflecting members arranged substantially in a circle with at least some provided with transversely spaced grooves, a plurality of intermediate deflecting members disposed between at least some of said spaced members and provided with transversely spaced projections registering with said grooves in adjacent spaced members, and means for feeding strip material between two of said members, said strip being deflected by said members and thereby formed into a coil, the grooves in each of said spaced members being staggered transversely of the strip relative to those in an adjacent spaced member whereby said strip is coiled without being marked.

2. A strip coiler comprising a plurality of sets of separate deflecting members arranged sub- 1 stantially in a circle with the members of each set provided with interfltting projections and grooves, and means for feeding strip material between two of said sets, said strip being defiected by said members and thereby formed into 4 a coil, said projections and grooves of each of said sets being staggered transversely of the strip relative to those of an adjacent set whereby said strip is coiled without being marked.

3. A strip coiler comprising a plurality of pairs 4 of separate deflecting members arranged substantially in a circle, each pair of said members being provided with interfltting projections and grooves, and means for feeding strip between two pairs of said members, said strip being de-' 5 fiected by said members and thereby formed into a coil, said interfltting projections and groovesof each pair 01 members being staggered transversely of the strip relative to those of the pair of members at each side whereby said strip is 6 vclisposed'beside each of said grooved rollers and provided with projections interfitting with said grooves to prevent cobbling of the strip, and means for feeding strip material between two of the rollers, said strip being deflected by said rollers and members and thereby formed into a coil, and the grooves in each roller being'staggered transversely of the strip relative to those in adjacent rollers whereby said strip is coiled without being marked. 7

5. A strip coiler comprising a plurality of bending rollers arranged substantially in a circle with at least some of the rollers provided with axially spaced peripheral grooves, a deflecting member disposed beside each oi said grooved rollers and 1 provided with projections interfltting with said grooves to prevent cobbling or the strip, means for moving at least some of said rollers and members to vary suitably the circumference of said circle, and means for feeding strip material between two or the rollers into said circle, said strip being deflected bysaid rollers and members and thereby formed into a coil, and the grooves in each roller being staggered transversely of the strip relative to those in adjacent rollers whereby said strip is coiledwithout being mar ed.

6. A strip coiler comprising a plurality of bending rollers arranged substantially in a circle with at least some of the rollers provided with axially spaced peripheral grooves, an oscillatable shoe disposed adjacent one side of each of said grooved rollers and provided with spaced tongues registering with said grooves, meansfor moving some of said rollers and shoes to vary suitably the circumierence of said circle, and means for feeding strip material between two of said rollers, said strip being deflected and bent into a coil by the rollers and shoes, and the grooves in each roller being staggered transversely of the strip relative to those in adjacent rollers whereby said strip is coiled without being mark v '7. A strip coiler comprising a plurality of spaced deflecting members arranged substantially in a circle with at least some provided with trans-" versely spaced grooves separated by projecting portions or substantially the same width as said .grooves, a plurality of intermediate deflecting members disposed between at least some of said spaced members and provided with transversely spaced projections registering with said grooves in adjacent spaced members; and means for feeding strip material between two or said members,

said strip being deflected by said members and member whereby said strip is coiled without being marked.

8. A strip coiler comprising a plurality of bending rollers arranged substantially in a circle with at least some of the rollers provided with axially 5 spaeed perip heral grooves separated by rib-like projecting portions or substantially the same width as said grooves, an oscillatable shoe disposed adjacent one side of each of said grooved rollers and provided with spaced tongues registering with said grooves, means for moving some of said rollers and shoes to vary suitably the circumference of said circle, and means for feeding strip material between two of said rollers; said strip being deflected and bent into a coil by the rollers and shoes, and the grooves in each roller being staggered transversely of the strip relative to those in adjacent rollers whereby said strip is coiled without being marked.

9. In a strip coiler a plurality of rotatable bending rollers in circular arrangement for defining circular path for said strip, said rollers having transversely spaced grooves, guides positioned between said rollers having tongues protruding into said grooves for preventing the outwarddeviation or said strip from said circular path, means feeding said strip against said rollers tor deflecting it into coil-convolutions said grooves on each roller being axially staggered relative to those of some other roller. so

10. A strip coiler comprising a plurality of bending rollers arranged substantially in a circle with their axes parallel and each provided with a plurality of axially spaced peripheral grooves, a deflecting shoe disposed adjacent one side of each roller and provided with spaced tongues projecting into said grooves, and means. for feeding strip toward two 0! said rollers, said strip being deflected and bent into a coil by the rollers and shoes without cobblins. 4'0

JOHN F. SPELLACY. 

